The inimitable Lemn Sissay appeared on the BBC in his show “Lemn Sissay is the One and Only”.in March 2023.

In the final episode, “The Only Foster Child in the House”, Lemn reflects on what he has learned about ‘normal’ families, which is that “dysfunction is at the heart of all functioning families”.

He is not arguing against family. Rather, his point is that every family has difficulties – there are different versions of the same event, there are often betrayals within families, transgressions are remembered and resented.

But it’s the “PR Company of Families” that suggests otherwise, that can’t admit the “murkiness”, the “messiness.”

And it’s the lack of admission about “dysfunction being at the heart of all functioning families” that contributes to the prejudices about kids in care, says Sissay.